And even more temple images

food!

riverside dining

traveling companions Christine and Marlon - with our first coconut.

Sticky rice extravaganza

meat

street scenes, Luang Prabang

Luang Prabang Buddha images

Luang Prabang

My favorite part of the life of Buddha...the big choice.

This whole outside mural was a numbered life of the Buddha. Each scene was numbered so everyone could follow along.

the view from the Guesthouse Lobby

the Guesthouse in Luang Prabang

Statue in the Guesthouse courtyard

the airport snack shop!

The Mighty Mekong

I believe it's called Al fresco!

Vientiane temple images

Vientiane

Temple and Citroen

The Guesthouse in Vientiane

The trip to Laos began in Vientiane, which is the world's most laid back capital....not a Starbucks or a McDonalds in sight. It is slow and warm and smokey - burning dead foliage (and perhaps garbage...) and incense from the temples leaves a haze over everything.

More Plover Cove

Fisherman

Disturbing the fishies

Kelly!

China

Up by the Chinese border, it takes about an hour by car from Hong Kong, up through Kowloon and the New Territories. Shenzhen is a stone's throw across the water.

Mongrel Club goes to Plover Park!

So the typical Hong Kong mongrel is called a Tong (for Tang Dynasty) Gau (for Dog). They are lovely, but not very appreciated, as many of them roam free and are kind of like street dogs in a lot of the villages. In Thailand they had the same type of dog, and even in LA, a mongrel that has bred down to it's basic "dogness" is a medium sized, dun colored, pointy eared, pointed muzzled canine with a curled tail. Ken, and his Tong Gau Kelly, belong to the SPCA's Mongrel Club, who gather once every few months to go on a socializing hike. These guys fill the shelters here and come in many variations - and are lovely,lovely, lovely. We hiked for 4 hours up near the border with PRC in a natural marshland near Plover Cove. It was a beautiful day, filled with happy doggies.